


Fleeting Youth

by ProblematicPines



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's, Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Canon Rewrite, Character Study, Childhood, Childhood Sweethearts, F/F, First Kiss, Pining, Possibly Unrequited Love, Sort Of, but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-10 00:57:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18649660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProblematicPines/pseuds/ProblematicPines
Summary: The motel room was dark; the only light source was of the orange street-light filtering in through the blinds, which were so janky and old they couldn’t close all the way. It was a bit of a privacy issue, Jessica had feared, but Charlie had convinced her that the window was much too high up for somebody to peek in through.Charlie debated on actually getting underneath the covers and getting some rest in preparation for the day’s events, when Jessica spoke up again.“Charlie…” Jessica started to say, then paused. It was a long, heavy pause, weighed down by the unmistakable feeling of indecision. It was so quiet Charlie could hear the distant traffic from the highway across the lot. The brunette was about to ask Jessica a question when the other girl did it for her.“...Do you...remember when you first took me around to your house? When we were kids?”How could she not?





	Fleeting Youth

It wasn’t like Charlie disliked Jessica or anything.

Jessica was a good listener, and she was always forthcoming with advice and wisdom that far surpassed her years. She was kind, but assertive when the situation arose. It wasn’t anything Charlie wasn’t capable of doing herself, but it meant a whole lot more when Jessica, dressed in her ribbons and flowers, took charge and didn’t take any shit from anyone.

Charlie supposed that she was grateful for Jessica’s outlook, in a way; it was a refreshing perspective after being raised under the rigid authoritarianism that was Aunt Jen’s idea of “adolescence”.

Befriending a girl that was fun and exciting and oh-so-beautiful was never something Charlie had considered happening to her.

But her near-constant overshadowing of herself and the others made Charlie somewhat wary of befriending Jessica. She felt unworthy of being in the presence of such a talented and remarkable woman, even if she was just as regular as the rest of them.

_ “But she isn’t like the rest of us, not really.” _

That was one thought that remained ingrained in Charlie’s subconscious whenever she found herself pondering her friend’s importance to her.

Sure, she could try and convince herself all she wanted that Jessica was just another girl from Hurricane, Utah, who grew up with her and the other kids in a town blackened by tragedy. But Jessica had actually gone and done something with her life; moving to New York for one thing. Studying to become an archaeologist for another.

Though it wasn’t like any of the others were completely hopeless either. John had wrote a book (or something, Charlie had been in a kind of daze at the time during their initial reunion in the diner), Carlton was...still living in Hurricane, she supposed. Hopefully Lamar and Marla’s lives were more invigorating then theirs when they met up with them in the morning.

And then there was Charlie, caught in a loop of constantly comparing her own dreary, bleak life to that of the taller, slimmer girl draped across the musty old motel bed across from her own, and reminiscing on all the painful memories that had been jaggedly ripped open upon returning to Hurricane.

Memories of her father, of Freddy’s, of Michael, of-

“Are you just gonna be spacing out all night, Charlie?” Jessica inquired. Though her voice was suitably hushed (due to it being pretty late at night and having the courtesy to not want to wake up any of their neighbours), it sounded like a foghorn in Charlie’s ears.

It broke through the fog, illuminating the world in a sharp, stinging clarity that the lack of any real light only intensified.

“Sorry, Jessica,” was all Charlie could mutter in return. Why was she apologizing? She hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Did you want anything?”

“Nah,” Jessica responded casually. She idly coiled a lock of her rich blonde hair around her finger as she lazily swung her legs back and forth, allowing her heels to just barely tap against her thighs before flopping back over the side of the bed. “Just...thinkin’.”

The motel room was dark; the only light source was of the orange street-light filtering in through the blinds, which were so janky and old they couldn’t close all the way. It was a bit of a privacy issue, Jessica had feared, but Charlie had convinced her that the window was much too high up for somebody to peek in through.

Charlie debated on actually getting underneath the covers and getting some rest in preparation for the day’s events, when Jessica spoke up again.

“Charlie…” Jessica started to say, then paused. It was a long, heavy pause, weighed down by the unmistakable feeling of indecision. It was so quiet Charlie could hear the distant traffic from the highway across the lot. The brunette was about to ask Jessica a question when the other girl did it for her.

“...Do you...remember when you first took me around to your house? When we were kids?”

How could she not?

Charlie nodded, not realizing that Jessica couldn’t see the motion in the dark.

“Yeah,” she said instead. “‘Course I do. It was the first time my dad allowed me to invite any of my friends round. You were the first. Even before John, or Carlton, or anybody else!”

Charlie’s dad hadn’t been too fond of two kids running around unsupervised while he was banging away in his workshop on his strange and wonderful machines. But somehow, Charlie and Jessica had convinced him that they were responsible enough to play in the yard like big girls, even while he was working.

Because all big girls still played tag in the backyard, dressed in summer clothes and shrieking to high heaven whenever one of them were tagged.

The memory was a pleasant one; it made Charlie feel a little giddy, and a slight twist in her stomach made her pulse beat just a little bit faster in the still darkness of the motel room.

“Do you remember what we did?” Jessica asked again.

The previously-giddy euphoria that was tingling around in Charlie soon delved into a lurching panic. It made the room seem a little darker, and the noises a little more acute and pointed.

Charlie did remember what they did.

What happened that day Jessica came around to play.

Rather, what almost happened.

_ There had been a tree in the backyard of Charlie and her dad’s house. It was a large, gnarled tree, with twisting branches that snaked up to the sky and dropped leaves and pinecones onto them during fall and snow during winter. But when Jessica came around to play, the tree had been lucious and green, hanging low with glistening green leaves that sparkled and shone in the summer sunshine. The girls, with their clothes spattered with dirt from tumbling in the grass and streaked with stains from their melted popsicles, had been playing tag around that tree. _

_Charlie’s father had been hammering away rhythmically in the workshop;_ even now, Charlie could hear the shrill clanging of metal on metal.

_ She could smell the crisp air, feel the cool grass beneath her bare feet, hear the shrill laughter of little girls that were making the most of their fleeting youth while the world remained colourful and bright. _

The sudden influx of senses was almost startling to Charlie.

_ She and Jessica had grown tuckered out after a while. They had slumped down behind the tree, backs against the rough bark. They weren’t in the most comfortable spot, as they were squashed between the tree-roots (since neither of them had the mind to move for the sake of personal space). _

_ The day had been a long and enjoyable one, and now, all they wanted to do was rest. Charlie had been picking at the bark with her fingernails (which were still flecked with purple nail varnish from Jessica’s botched manicure earlier in the day) when Jessica (still remaining somewhat proper, despite the amount of dirt smudged on her face and ruffled skirt) brought up something very unexpected. _

_ “Charlie, can I give you a kiss?” _

Such a simple question, such a simple inquiry for a young girl to have. There wasn’t anything behind it; no real conviction. No real feelings. No real spur-of-the-moment impulse that sent either of their hearts racing or made their pulses increase tenfold.

It had been the genuine request of a child who didn’t know any better, of a child who had no idea that kissing wasn’t an expression of love and appreciation between friends. 

Even now, present day Charlie was reeling in shock that Jessica had been so upfront with such a suggestion. Sure, she’d always been impulsive like that, but...at the same time, never like that.

_ “Ewww!” had been Charlie’s initial response. She’d playfully pushed her friend over into the grass, pulling a faux-disgusted face while doing so. “That’s gross, Jess!” _

Jess.

That had been Charlie’s own nickname for Jessica.

God, it had been years since she’d last called her that. She doubted she’d even called her it while saying her goodbyes on her last day of spending her childhood in Utah.

_ “What? No I’m not!” Jessica insisted, sticking out her tongue. “I was just messin’ around!” _

_ “Nuh-uh!” Charlie hollered back indignantly. “You were gonna give me cooties! Girls can’t kiss each other!” _

_ “You can’t get cooties from a girl!” Jessica had squeaked back, red in the face from a mixture of the summer heat and Charlie’s adamant rejection of her childhood curiosity. “You can only get those from boys!” _

_ “That’s not what John said!” Charlie squawked, jumping to her feet (even though she was still shorter than Jessica). “John says you can get cooties from girls and boys!” _

_ “W-Well-” _

_ Jessica hopped to her feet as well, brushing down her skirt in a vain attempt to look a bit more mature and responsible. _

_ “John says a lot of stuff that isn’t true!” _

_ The two of them had continued bickering back and forth a while longer about the logistics around the spread of the cooties disease that was sweeping America by storm, before they had finally exhausted themselves yet again.  _

_ By that time, Charlie’s curiosity had grown. With a quizzical eyebrow and a slight cock of the head, Charlie studied her friend up and down. _

_ “What?” Jessica inquired. _

_ “Why do you wanna kiss me?” It came out quieter than Charlie had intended, but she had no idea that this was where her day was headed. _

_ Jessica shrugged, as though it were the most casual thing in the world. _

_ “I don’t know,” she responded, absently kicking away a fallen branch without meeting Charlie’s gaze. “I see mom and dad do it all the time. I think it’s a ‘best friends’ kinda thing.” _

_ “Best friends?” Charlie asked. _

_ “Yeah. At least, I think so.” Jessica shrugged. “I just wanted to try it out, since we’re best friends. And it’s what best friends do.” She paused, anticipating Charlie’s response. _

_ “Promise you won’t give me cooties?” she asked, testing the waters. _

_ Jessica drew a cross across her chest with her forefinger. _

_ “Cross my heart and hope to die.” _

_ “Stick a needle in your eye?”   
“Or else I’ll be baked into a pie.” _

_ Charlie had never heard that continuation of the saying before, but decided not to question it. _

 

_ There were a lot of things she wasn’t questioning about Jessica today. _

_ After a few seconds, Charlie groaned exasperatedly and sagged to the floor, looking oddly annoyed at Jessica’s apparent insistence (even though it had been her that had been pushing the issue a whole lot). _

_ “Fiiiiiiine,” she moaned raggedly. “But only on the cheek! Ya hear? Promise or not, I don’t want your cooties! Even if they are best friend cooties!” _

_ Jessica clearly bit back a laugh at how extra Charlie was acting, but nodded in agreement. “That’s fine,” she replied. _

_ For a few seconds, neither of them moved. Jessica stared at Charlie, a pink hue dusting her dimpled cheeks. Charlie glared back from underneath her messy brown bangs, then slowly turned her head to the side, showing Jessica her dirty, freckled cheek. _

_ Thinking back on it now, Charlie was unbelievably grateful for the cover the gnarled tree provided them with; if her dad had caught them doing something like this, then she would have surely been grounded and her privilege of bringing friends from Freddy’s over would have been revoked quicker than she could have said “Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza”. _

_ Slowly, Jessica had leaned forward, and Charlie could have sworn the world had fallen silent for those few seconds. _

_ The moment Jessica’s lips, which were slightly green from the lime popsicle she’d ravenously chowed down earlier that day, would have touched Charlie’s cheek, who decided to yell out from his workshop but her father. _

_ “CHARLIE! JESSICA! WHERE ARE YOU TWO?” _

_ The startling yell caused Charlie’s head to spin around and Jessica’s head to jerk backwards, resulting in the two of them colliding their foreheads and crying out sharply in pain. _

_ “Jess!” Charlie whined. “That hurt!” _

_ “It was your fault!” Jessica barked back, tenderly rubbing above her eyebrow. There was no real anger in her tone, but from her flushed cheeks and refusal to meet Charlie’s eyes, it was clear that she was...embarrassed? Disappointed? _

_ Whatever the case was, Charlie wasn’t gonna make it her duty anymore; she headed out from behind the tree and into the bright sunshine, which was all too blinding after spending so long in the shade of the old tree. _

Charlie didn’t know how quiet she’d been, but she’d been quiet long enough for Jessica to fall asleep in her bed. Her snores, soft and quiet, were what brought Charlie back to the present, and upon doing so, she found herself mentally kicking herself for getting so engrossed in some weird nostalgia trip and not focusing on why Jessica brought it up in the first place.

It wasn’t like something they had discussed regularly since it happened; Hell, after that failed attempt at a “best friend kiss”, Jessica never breathed a word of it again. And, following her initiative, Charlie didn’t either.

As she lay there, in the solemn darkness of the motel room, listening to the decreasing beat of her pulse in her temples and the rhythmic snoring of Jessica in the next bed over, Charlie couldn’t help but ponder Jessica’s intentions.

Somehow, she sensed that there was something more than just childhood reminiscing.

**Author's Note:**

> HOOOOOOOOO BOYYYYYYYYY  
> IT HAS BEEN TOOOOOOO LOOOOOOOONGGGGG
> 
> I am super super sorry guys! It's been over a month since I last posted any Fics, and for that I am really really sorry! I'm sure it must have sucked to not see any new updates!  
> I am truly gonna try and remedy this by keeping up a semi-regular schedule. College is drawing to a close, and I have the majority of my stuff worked out, which means I can focus more on my writing!
> 
> So, this Fic has been in my W.I.P.'s for MONTHS. I remember thinking about how realistic and enjoyable the chemistry between Charlie and Jessica was in "The Silver Eyes", and how forced and uninteresting the """romance""" between Charlie and John was. Seriously, what was John's personality outside of being Charlie's lapdog and chauffeur whenever the plot called for it?  
> So, I decided to rewrite two aspects of the original novel so that it pushes Jessica and Charlie together! Whether or not I write a continuation to this is up in the air for now, though if I get any inspiration, I'll be sure to write for this again!
> 
> Thanks for making it this far and reading my work! As always, comments and kudos are very much appreciated!


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